Today was our day to check out Malmö - fortunately there was not a long list of things we wanted to do so it would prove to be quite a leisurely day. We started with breakfast in the hotel, a classic European meal of cereals and fruit, yoghurt, bread and cold cuts with cheese. All in all it was a good way to start the day.
We then set off for Malmöhus (or Malmö castle). This was constructed in the mid-15th century and has over the years since been a fortress, a prison, a refugee centre (for victims of the concentration camps after WWII) and...

A very early start at 5.30am, we got up and sorted and ready for the taxi Ron had ordered last night by 6.20am. After 10-15 minutes of waiting, no taxi arrived so Ron went and asked about the taxi. We found out that no taxi was coming so we were told it would be a further 10 minute wait. After another 15 minutes, still with no sign of our ordered taxi, we managed to flag down a passing taxi. By this time we were in a bit of a panic as we needed to get to Heathrow and were 30 minutes behind schedule.
As it happened, it worked out cheaper and...

After visiting Stockholm I spend another night on my island with in mind the idea that if the morning looks good I could bike quickly to the end of the island I saw 2 days before and that I was imagining a pretty place with sun. It was the case as just before getting up I hear rain knocking on the camper roof. So before leaving I was indicated a nice castle very close to my place so I go there and get few pictures before driving south direction Denmark. I was still not there at night so find a little village on the GPS map and get there...

In continuing with the error I made, I'll correct it all in here.
On the 30th April, it is known as Valborg Day in Sweden, or Walpurgis night. There are various histories of this night in various countries (if you're interested you can look up Walpurgis on Wikipedia to find out more information). Essentially in Sweden, Valborg is about the bringing of spring. Let's hope it does this year, as the weather in Malmö is very Melbourne with all seasons in one day, and evenings still being cool.
This year, they are holding their Valborg...

Unfortunately, the photos contained in this page are on the wrong date. These took place on the 29th April. I didn't realise I was loading on the wrong date until I was partially through loading, then I thought I would keep going as it would have taken a bit of time to fix it, and well, it really doesn't matter that much.
There's really only one activity to talk about today, and that's Valborg Day which we attended an evening event at Folketspark. I'll post those onto the 1st May.

Unforunately, I have loaded there rest of the photos onto the 30th April in error.
Today we decided that we would go to Copenhagen for the day. What I love about being in Northern Europe is that you can just decide in the morning to go to another country and you can be there before lunch. Being in Malmö is a great example as it's only around 25 minutes by train to get to Copenhagen.
We've already been to Copenhagen of course so we thought that maybe this time we would just a quick run around of the city to refresh ourselves of the...

One of the things that amazes us about Malmö is where everybody is in the morning. You'd expect to see some sort of "peak hour" with workers coming into their places of employ, but it just doesn't look it. Perhaps they have workers streets that aren't seen by the tourists?
Another chill out day, in which to do little but sit in a coffee shop and chill. This could become a lifestyle choice really.

Today we're off for a train ride, and who doesn't love one of those. We're travelling on the local regional trains today, the pågatåg, to the seaside town of Simrishavn. It's only about an hour or so away from Malmö and gives us a chance to see another part of Sweden. The idea was given to us by the lovely Annmaree Heaphy who family has history there.
We can see that this would be absolutely lovely in summer in the town, but today it's grey, cloudy, and there are showers about which does make it a little depressing about.
The little bakery...

Today is a fairly quiet, chill out day, which was the point of staying in Malmö.
We head down for lunch at Hyllie. The train station is just underneath the Malmö Arena, where the 2013 Eurovision was held - ah memories. And of course, lunch is at Vapianos. We discovered on Saturday when we arrived, after a walk about, that the Vapiano restaurant nearer to the central station, and our hotel, has been closed. A bit rude we think; we should have been consulted on this radical move.
We do a bit of shopping whilst we're at Hyllie at the Emporia...

Today is a beautiful morning. Showers are forecast later today and it's best to make the most of the morning.
After breakfast, we get ready and go for a walk down the Ribersborg and Ribersborgstrand. This is a really lovely pedestrian path along a very long park along the Malmö foreshore. There's a lot of dogs out to play at the exclusive (non fenced) dog park too. Suns out, peoples are out, it's getting a bit warm at the moment with all this walking and we walk near the length of the path. It's so lovely! We are getting a little tired...

I met Joel several years ago on a discovery trip to Northern Europe. The truth is, I was pretty bored by the trip. Lots of long meetings with pastors from different regions. No one really knew why we were in Northern Europe. We wanted to find out ways we could meet needs in this region of the world, or develop partnerships. The pastors weren't sure what we wanted from them. After one meeting, Joel asked me if I'd like to join him for his pre-teen club that night. I jumped at the chance to be around kids. I begged off of the third or fourth...

Caught the train to Lund, Sweden tthis morning. My friends, Joel and Sarah, met us at the train station. What a great day! Coffee at a Swedish coffee house! Wandering through the 11th Century Cathedral! The church had a fascinating crypt in the basement. Hm. I wonder if I can convince the seminary to bury me in the crypt of the new building. Finn, the Giant, is holding up one of the pillars of the crypt. His wife, Gerda, holds their child as she holds up another pillar. Hm.
We saw this Kulture "museum" that housed historic artifacts...like...